There For You
by Auden Grey
Summary: "Jade, no! No!" Cat shrieked, batting the green crayon away. "Belle's hair isn't green! It's brown," she whimpered, her chest rising and falling rapidly as if she were going to hyperventilate. Jade began to laugh. "This isn't funny, Jade! Belle would look like an ugly Princess with green hair!"


**I guess this is pointless "fluff?" I don't know, honestly. I've been so blocked lately that I wanted to publish something and I had the image of Jade being sad and Cat making her color to make her feel better? Anywho, it's not my best, but I tried!**

**Like I said, I've been pretty blocked so if you want to shoot me a PM with a Cade/Catorade (friendship) prompt or something I'll do my best to write it! I make no promises though because I'm kind of lazy sometimes. ;)  
**

* * *

"Do you want to color? That always helps me when I'm sad."

Cat stared at Jade dejectedly, keeping her distance on her pristine white couch as she watched her best friend desperately try to keep the tears from spilling down her pale cheeks. In all of the years since they had been friends, Cat had seen Jade cry only once or twice. She was always so put together and rarely let any emotion but anger shine through. It scared Cat because she really didn't know what to do. She contemplated calling Tori to see if she'd be able to come over and help but decided against it when Jade took a deep breath and finally met her concerned gaze.

"No, Cat," Jade said, her voice devoid of any emotion whatsoever. It was cold and flat and frankly, it frightened Cat. "I shouldn't have come here."

Cat bit her lip in offense and hugged Mr. Purple. "Why?"

"Because you, you," Jade began, stopping when she saw the tears welling up in the younger girl's brown eyes. She swiped the few tears that were lucky enough to escape and fiddled with the various bracelets on her wrist. "You know what?" she said softly to Cat. "Let's color."

Delight spread across Cat's face as she bounded off the couch and up the stairs to retrieve her coloring books and crayons. Jade took the few minutes alone to take several deep breaths to compose herself so Cat wouldn't constantly question what was wrong.

Cat returned moments later and nearly tripped over her feet in excitement. She giggled when she fell across Jade's lap and onto the couch. Jade just shook her head in amusement and tried to avoid getting hit in the face with Cat's foot as she struggled to sit up.

"Which one do you want? Disney Princesses or barn animals?"

Jade curled her lip in distaste but after deep contemplation, she grabbed the barn animals one since Cat was clutching the Princess one a little too tightly in her small hand. She watched Cat drop to her knees on the floor and followed suit, harshly flipping through the flimsy coloring book to find a page that wasn't colored. Unfortunately, the only uncolored page was one with four ducks gathered by a pond. Cat was already giggling to herself while she reached for the yellow crayon, carefully coloring in Belle's pretty dress.

"Aren't you going to color?" Cat asked when she noticed Jade staring blankly at the picture of the ducks. "Do you want this one instead?"

"This is fine," Jade sighed, reaching for the black crayon. It was the only one that wasn't used. All of the other crayons were all old and worn. The pink crayon had no paper on it, indicating Cat used it a great deal. "How come you've never used the black crayon?"

Cat shrugged, her eyes still trained on her picture. "It's a dark and scary color," she admitted shyly. When she saw Jade was harshly coloring the ducks in black, she gasped in offense. "Jade! Ducks aren't black! They're yellow and fluffy and cute! Those ducks are scary," she pouted, reaching for Mr. Purple.

"Oh, so now you're going to tell me what to do?" Jade snapped, breaking the black crayon in half before throwing in Cat's direction. She stood to her feet as Cat cowered, her facing disappearing into the body of her prized stuffed giraffe.

"Jadey, what's wrong?" Cat asked desperately, slowly standing up to walk over to where Jade was lingering by the front door. She dropped Mr. Purple on the armchair and placed her hand on Jade's arm. "You can tell me."

Jade gripped the brass doorknob tightly. She closed her eyes and tried to brush off the concerned and frightened look Cat was giving her. "Beck," she started in a whisper. She couldn't help but smile when Cat jutted out her bottom lip and looked up at her sadly. "He's going out with some slut from Northridge tonight."

Cat did her best not to gasp at Jade's choice of words. Instead she sighed and wrapped her arms around her friend's waist, holding on as tight as possible. Jade was obviously trying not to cry. "He's a dummy."

"That's one way to describe him," Jade laughed, despite herself. "I know we've been broken up for a few months but I never, I never thought he'd be over me so soon."

Cat buried her face into Jade's shoulder when the tears finally came. She hated when people cried in front of her because she never knew what to do. Jade was never really an emotional person so it was a bit unnerving to see her so vulnerable and hurt.

"It will be okay," Cat added in meekly, closing her eyes when she felt Jade hug her tightly. She rubbed her back and tried rocking her, but because Jade was so much taller, she ended up only rocking herself.

Jade suddenly pulled back and pawed her eyes with the back of her hand. She peered down at Cat and smiled thankfully, ruffling her red hair affectionately. Cat looked nervous and scared. "I know it will be."

"Please don't be upset, Jadey," Cat whispered with a trembling lip. "You're too pretty to be this sad."

"Whatever, Cat," Jade scoffed in amusement. She nearly fell back when Cat jumped into her arms and hung from her neck with a squeal. "Come help me finish coloring this stupid duck picture."

"Ducks are not stupid!" Cat said defensively. "They're cute little furry creatures and you're just a big meanie, Jade!"

Jade rolled her eyes and tried not to frown as Cat practically sat on top of her once she got back down on the floor. She watched with a small smile as Cat colored the one duck that remained unscathed yellow, happily humming to herself. Jade grabbed a blue crayon and half-heartedly dragged it across where the pond was.

"We'll just have to tell him his brothers and sisters were adopted," Cat sighed dramatically, her eyes flickering between Jade and the half-colored page. "I can't believe you colored the ducks black. You're silly, Jade."

"I think the lone yellow duck will be okay, Cat," Jade promised with a little laugh, rubbing Cat's back when she still looked concerned.

"Kay, kay!" Cat said brightly, reaching for her other coloring book. "Will you help me finish coloring in Belle? She takes _forever_!"

Jade stared at Cat in disbelief but grabbed a green crayon anyway. She let it hover over Belle's hair and wondered how long it would take for Cat to freak out.

Five seconds.

"Jade, no! No!" Cat shrieked, batting the green crayon away. "Belle's hair isn't green! It's brown," she whimpered, her chest rising and falling rapidly as if she were going to hyperventilate. Jade began to laugh. "This isn't funny, Jade! Belle would look like an ugly Princess with green hair!"

Jade couldn't stop. The look of pure terror on Cat's face was priceless. It turned into a pout but then a dimply smile spread across her face. "What are you staring at me for?" Jade asked when she noticed Cat looking at her dreamily.

"I made your sadness go away, didn't I?" Cat smiled proudly. She poked her fingers into Jade's side with a high-pitched giggle. "I made you all better!"

"Yeah, yeah," Jade mumbled when Cat climbed into her lap and hugged her tight, showing no indication of letting go. "Now get off of me before I scribble all over Belle with the black crayon."

Cat didn't move. "But you broke the black crayon, remember?"

"Right," Jade grumbled in annoyance. She pried Cat's arms off her neck and grabbed her hands, giving them a light squeeze. "Thanks," she whispered, looking down at her lap.

"For what?" Cat asked, titling her head in confusion.

"For helping me forget about Beck," Jade said, feigning annoyance.

"Oh!" Cat giggled into her hands. She leaned back into Jade and hugged her for the umpteenth time. "You're welcome! That's what I'm here for."

Jade patted Cat's back and pulled her away again. "Okay, seriously. Get off."

"No."

"I'm going to take what's left of the black crayon and color it all over every picture in your coloring book," she threatened, using her "scary" voice so Cat would get the point. "I'm serious, Cat. One, two, three-"

Cat leaned back and clapped. "I love three!" She saw the slight irritation in Jade's eyes and got off with a sigh. "Fine." She slid both coloring books away from Jade just in case. "I don't trust you to be around these."

"I'm hurt," Jade said sarcastically, throwing her hand over her heart. She smiled when Cat stuck her tongue out at her and fell back on the couch. "At least let me finish my stupid duck picture so I can go home and cut it up!"

"Oh, fine," Cat conceded, reluctantly handing over the coloring book to Jade. "Just promise me you'll be nice to the ducks."

Jade gave Cat a thumbs up and grinned evilly while tearing out the picture.

Cat just shook her head sadly and cuddled with Mr. Purple.

"Jadey?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm glad you're not sad anymore," Cat said wistfully. "And I'm glad I got to make you feel better!"

Jade smiled up at Cat and patted her knee. "Me, too, baby girl."


End file.
